Why does this feel so... familiar? This light... It's warm and blinding.

Lira covered her eyes with her hands as the blinding white light seemed to embrace her in it's warmth. Such an odd sense to be feeling. She was bleeding to death, wasn't she? Passed out in the middle of a battlefield and left for dead, right?

Am I... dead?

She closed her eyes tightly, using her hands to grip her arms as she folded them over her chest. She knelt down onto her knees and growled a bit. What was going on? Where was she exactly? Will this light ever end?

Don't worry, child. Just keep your eyes closed. Everything will be alright...

The new voice was a bit startling to her, but she didn't want to be blinded by the light. Mysterious yet kind at the same time, the voice spoke her to calmly.

You have nothing to fear. Let the darkness consume you...

No, please open your eyes, Lira. This new voice sounded peaceful and firm as it tried to persuade Lira. The light glistened around the young girl brilliantly. Look towards a new path. A new path to the light.

"The... light?" Lira reluctantly opened up one of her eyes to see what this light sense was. One side of her still in the dark and one side of her stepping into the light. Which path would she choose? Before she could decide, she felt herself fade from reality. Her vision went onto to be a complete blur.

"I just don't know anymore..."

"Oh no..."

The goddess murmured those words as she opened up her sorrowful eyes. Her gaze was set on the seemingly endless plain known as the Order of Emptiness. Her flowing gown surely showed her godly appearance as well as her pale, glowing skin. She looked at the ground as she thought cautiously of what she needed to do next. She had just sent out her warriors on their journeys to obtain their own crystals. Leaving her with a situation in her hands. The goddess looked down towards the ground as she tried to search her find to a solution to this problem.

"You look sorrowful, Cosmos. So troubled indeed. A conflict to deal with? Oh what can it be?" The small woman approached the goddess as she took notice in her troubled appearance. The woman was dressed in standard mage attire, yet she was only about a foot or two tall. She was a rather peculiar woman compared to the tall heavenly figure she was talking to, but this woman did give a rather spunky appearance to her.

The goddess looked at the little woman and displayed a small smile. It disappeared though when she looked back into the distance. "I sense a dark aura, Lady Shantotto... It's quite troubling to me..."

"You felt that aura as well? So I am not the only one. Shall we investigate this and see what is to come?"

Cosmos let out a small sigh. "I cannot go and see. But Lady Shantotto, will you be willing to see what this troubling sense is?"

The small woman chuckled a bit. Her voice high-pitched and proud. "But of course I can! Anything for a friend. I shall scan the areas carefully from points to end. It troubles me also, for this isn't a plot. But it is merely a girl, summoned here whether she would like it or not..."

Cosmos nodded and looked at Shantotto, her eyes urgent and worried. "That's why I'm so afraid. What if Chaos got his hands on her?"

With her head pounding from such a throbbing sensation, Lira gripped her head as she sat up. Her eyes still shut tight from exhaustion. Sleep seemed nice at the moment, but she refused to sleep right now. After all, she just woke up. In fact, she could get even more sleep. All she had to do was fall back over, use her jacket as a pillow, and fall asleep. But either way, she couldn't move that much since bullets were still stuck in her skin. Probably all she could do at the moment is sit up and fall back over.

So with that, she fell back over, opening her eyes to take a look at the sky. It was dark actually. Night time it seemed. The stars were out, a small bit of the moon was somewhere out of Lira's range of vision, and the sky had a deep blue tint to it. It was almost begging her to go back to sleep, but she wanted to admire it. So she stayed there, flat on her back, and looked up at the sky with tired eyes. She felt a bit of her wounds bleed out a bit more, but she didn't care. Lira felt like she was going to die from pain, but at least she'll die with a happy view...

"Hey! Look over there!"

"A girl? Why is she just passed out like that?"

Lira heard two voices approach her quickly. She was going to move out of the way, but then again, she couldn't. She tried to her best to ignore them and she watched the sky again, even if the two figures were now hovering over her. Her eyes wide open and her breathing was shallow, causing the two strangers to freak out.

"Oh my Cosmos, Zi. Is she dead?"

"I dunno, Bartz. She looks in pretty bad shape... Maybe I should kiss her like in Sleeping Beauty. The princess woke up when the prince did that."

"You're no prince though..."

Lira figured that if this kept up, something bad would end up happening to her. "And I ain't no princess." The two boys sort of screamed in fright at the sudden realization that Lira was alive. She did such a good job at being skill and lifeless that they really believed that she was dead. That was surely a great compliment... Not... The girl looked up at the two boys with an irritated and exhausted gaze. Her arms just barely able to move, but she pointed at the two boys weakly. "Do you two know any cure spells?"

The boys looked at Lira then at each other. Their eyes a bit wide in shock. They didn't recognize the girl, but she was bleeding out on the ground. They might as well help a 'damsel in distress.'

"I know a few," Bartz stated. He looked at Lira's wounds with his brown eyes. "Wow, are those bullet wounds?" He scratched his head curiously at them. "I've never really helped treat one before..."

"No problem. Just heal them enough to stop the bleeding." Lira sat up and turned away from the two boys. From what she observed, she had two bullets wounds. One was only a large gash in her side where the bullet went clean through, but the other was in her leg. So she took off her glove and dug into the holster around her waist, taking out a small dagger. She bit her lip, knowing how much this would hurt and took the bullet out carefully. She managed to suck up her pain and take out the bullet, throwing it off to the side. The two boys looked at her in a surprised way. She took a bullet out of her leg with a dagger and didn't even cry? That's really tough. Even they wouldn't do that alone like that. "Can you heal me now?"

"Uh, sure."

"Wait, Bartz." The blonde-haired boy stopped his friend. He looked at Lira with his blue eyes, intrusting of this girl's intentions. "How do you know if she's with Chaos?"

"You were just wanting to kiss her a few minutes ago, Zidane," Bartz grinned, "She's not even trying to attack us and she's bleeding out! That doesn't seem like something Chaos's minions would-"

"Chaos?" Lira raised an eyebrow and tossed her dagger off to the side. "My people worship a god named Chaos, but what's that have to do with it?"

"She's with Chaos!" Zidane exclaimed, "Bartz, we can't trust her if she's with Chaos. No matter how good looking, pretty, hot... whatever she is!"

Lira rolled her eyes. Good looking? Pretty? Hot? She had a large scar on her face and she was practically bleeding to death, and he thinks that's pretty? "Chaos can burn for all I care. I don't rely on gods and religion, you little monkey brat."

"Monkey brat? How rude of a lady to insult me..."

Lira scoffed and fell back onto her back. "I don't want to be a lady. They get no respect at all. In fact, I couldn't even help my country without lying about my gender. It's disgraceful of me, but who cares? As long as I'm willing to help the people who need it... Now if you're complaining over the fact that my people worship Chaos while I'm a atheist, then go ahead. But I at least want to be healed before I leave."

Bartz looked at Zidane, his face looked infuriated with this girl. One of the only women that Bartz had ever seen Zidane get mad at. It was odd... "I'm not sure if she is with Chaos, Zi. I've never seen her around before... After all, she just, well, stayed there, and she doesn't even have a weapon."

"Got lost when I was attacked," Lira nodded, "Can you heal me before I lose even more blood? I'm even surprised I'm still alive after taking a hell of a beating... But if you help me, I'll be sure to help you out in the future if you need it, okay?"

Bartz looked at Zidane and smiled a bit, hoping the blonde would say yes. Of course, he ended up giving into a woman (no matter how much of a pain) like he usually does. Zidane nodded to his friend and the brown-haired boy healed Lira's leg and side. It wasn't fully healed, but at least Lira would move. The black haired girl took off her jacket afterwords and tore it up, using the shreds of it to bandage up her side and leg.

"Alright, thanks for healing me. I'm out now."

As Lira began to walk off the two boys followed after her. "Wait! Where are you going? Aren't you going to travel with us?"

"No thanks. I'm going to find a way to get back home. You guys can go have fun and enjoy yourselves or whatever you were doing. I've got to report to my superior."

"Superior? Do you mean Lady Cosmos?" Bartz questioned. When he saw Lira's expression, the black haired girl looked to be confused. As though he was psychotic.

"Lady Cosmos? She is the goddess of the Pherians. I'm an Exian so my people worship Chaos. But I have no part in this since I don't care about this at all. In fact, Chaos and Cosmos were the one of the main reasons the battle between the Pherians and Exians started." Lira let out a sigh and walked away from Bartz and Zidane. "I don't have time to waste on this. I need to get back home..."

"But how are you suppose to fight off Chaos's minions? You don't even have a weapon," Bartz pointed to Lira's empty belt. When Lira took notice in that, she bluntly frowned and continued walking. However, the two boys grabbed her arm and stopped her from going any farther. "Seriously, are you insane? You're going to get yourself killed!"

Lira displayed a very firm and violent glare at the two boys, causing them to back off from her. She turned around to face them with discontent. "I don't have time to deal with you two. I have to find someone and get back home. Just because I'm going out without a weapon doesn't mean I can't take care of myself. Let me be..."

She took notice in how worried those two boys looked. After all, letting a wounded person go out on their own. And that person happens to be a girl? That would be rude to do to a lady! However, since Lira had a hard time admitting she was a lady, it changed things a bit. But even so, those two boys seemed concern about Lira. Even if she considered it to be only a minor issue, in their eyes, it seemed to be a big problem.

Lira finally let out a sigh of annoyance. "You know what, if you let me go, I promise I'll come back and tell you that I'm okay, alright? That way I can show you that I'm able to handle myself."

Bartz and Zidane looked at each other, both getting the same thought in their head about what might happen. Letting an injured person go out on their own, even if they insist would be a bad idea... "Okay, but first, trying walking about five steps."

Rubbing the temples of her head in exasperation, she nodded and took a step foreward. There's one... Two... Three- Suddenly, Lira's leg gave in and she stumbled. Bartz quickly caught the wounded soldier just before she hit the ground. A small smile appeared in his face as he looked at Lira. However, her look was very enraged. "Looks like you could use some help from a friend."

"Friend? As if..." Lira groaned and let Bartz support her up. "But help from a person who could give me help in the future is fine. Either way, I can't get rid of you two, can I?"

Zidane and Bartz laughed at Lira's negative attitude and began to walk with her out of the area. "You remind me of someone else we know..."